In
April of 1998 I wrote here "Privacy
has become an anachronism." I warned of "a massive system designed
to intercept all your e-mail, fax traffic and more." I was writing about
Echelon, the illegitimate offspring of a UKUSA treaty signed by the United
States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Its purpose
was, and is, to have a vast global intelligence monster, which allegedly
shares common goals. The system is so "efficient" that reportedly National
Security Agency folk from Fort Meade can work from Menwith Hill in England
to intercept local communications without either nation having to burden
themselves with the formality of seeking approval or disclosing the operation.

Back
in early 1998 WorldNetDaily was in its infancy. More people listened to
my daily radio talk show than had ever heard of WorldNetDaily. WorldNetDaily
was more than a dream but less than a fully formed embryo. When we exposed
Echelon it was viewed skeptically and cynically as "more right wing conspiracy
stuff." Well guess what? The allegedly venerable CBS "60 Minutes" has placed
their imprimatur on chilling reality. Steve Kroft scored an interview with
a once-upon-a-time-spook, Mike Frost. Frost confirms, "Everywhere in the
world, every day, people's phone calls, e-mails and faxes are monitored
by Echelon, a secret government surveillance network." Where did we hear
that before?

It
may have been easy for the masters of the game to rationalize and justify
the presumed necessity of the Echelon snooping as long as they were merely
trying to combat international terrorism. Data interdiction and resource
management sound "official" and ... cool. However, when the realities of
the warts and blemishes are seen without the masking of cheesecloth and
soft focus, "Katie bar the door!"

Kathryn
Graham, owner of the Washington Post, in November of 1988 reportedly told
a group of CIA recruits, "There are some things the general public does
not need to know ... and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when
the government can take legitimate steps to keep it secret, and when the
press can decide whether to print what it knows." Implied, but not stated
in Madam Graham's statement is the "when" factor. If muckrakers and gadflies
and the European press could, and did, report about Echelon, why
is "60 Minutes" only just now "breaking" the story?

Electronic
warfare countermeasures may be sold as necessary evils in eavesdropping
on drug lords, rogue nation-states and terrorists of assorted stripes.
However, there are problems with letting a genie out of the bottle. Not
the least of which are control, mitigation and security.

Historically
governments can, and do, get away with doing bad stuff because they treat
the masses like mushrooms (keep them in the dark and feed them fertilizer).
However, now Matt Drudge and Steve Kroft have confirmed what has been rumored
for years: "Echelon Bombshell: NSA Accused of Spying on U.S. Politicians"

Yessiree
Bob!

According
to Margaret Newsham (who reportedly worked at England's notorious Menwith
Hill, which is allegedly the largest National Security Agency spy data
funnel), "American politicians have been eavesdropped on." Who says you
can't end a sentence with a preposition? Margaret says she was shocked
and amazed to hear the creaky, drawling articulations of the very senior
southern Senator Strom Thurmond on her surveillance tape. Remember that
political hack that was excoriated for having taped a cellular phone conversation
of Newt Gingrich? That was a small yellow hole in a snow bank compared
to this.

The
European Parliament has had its panties in a bunch for years over what
is or isn't happening under the covert mantel of Echelon. In fact, they
are now accusing us (as in the U.S.) of commercial/industrial espionage.
The U.S. State Department has assumed a Sergeant Schultz position of "We
know noooooooooothing!"

They
still don't even acknowledge the existence of the project despite over
two years of reporting and commentary on the subject.

Yeah,
and there is no Area 51, and

There
was no "controlling authority," and

"It
depends on the definition of what 'is' is ..."

Vince
Foster really did kill himself in Marcy Park, and

Lee
Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin,

Mad
Albright wasn't really upset with having been confused for a cleaning lady,
and

The
check is in the mail.

The
chairman of the House Intelligence committee, Rep. Porter Goss reminds
me of the kid who says "I didn't do it ... and if I did, I'm sorry, and
I won't do it again ... not that I ever did. ..." The House Intelligence
Committee is supposed to have oversight of the NSA. They do begrudgingly
admit, "the U.S. has the capability to pick up any phone call." Goss claims
they have methods to prevent abuse of data and that although they cannot
"stop dust in the ether," he asserts, "I can make sure ... the capability
is not abused." Kinda like the Privacy Act prevents FBI files from being
abused by political opposition research wonks.

In
1998 I said, "The real threat to the republic has, and will, come from
international treaties." Echelon is arguably more of a threat than NAFTA,
GATT's WTO, and gifting the communist Red Chinese with supercomputers.

The
NSA runs Echelon with four Anglo cousins standing on the other corners
of this pentagon communications net. However, in order to discover what
the presumed dark side is conspiring, it is first "necessary" to suck up
all electronic communications data before any triage. That means
all data. Allegedly there are filters that are supposed to analyze
"key words." However, some cyberwags are intentionally crafting key word-riddled
transmissions intended to get sucked into the Echelon analysis labyrinth.

My
mother finally airmailed that bomb to my brother, the Senator. She said
that it is like an automatic weapon against those bugs in the basement
and will kill them all within three or four days. Anything that flies will
get "bombed," she said, which will probably leave little bodies all over
the basement. I know the bureaucrats are against using these silent chemical
attacks, even on bugs, but the position of the stupid Justice Department
bureaucrats in the Federal Government is way out of line on this matter.
We still have some liberty in this country, and I am sure the Constitution
will allow us to kill all of those creepy critters we can.

One-time
spy Mike Frost was uncomfortable speaking with Kroft. "My concern is no
accountability and nothing, no safety net in place for the innocent people
who fall through the cracks." By way of example of those innocent people,
Frost tells of a woman whose name and telephone number went into the Echelon
database as a possible terrorist. Why? Because she told a friend on the
phone that her son had "bombed" in a school play.

The
privacy the founding fathers so cherished is becoming a footnote in history
(that is, in those classes where pre-20th century history is even taught).
Many are aware of the unbridled abuse of the alleged single-purpose Social
Security number. We have legislators who have sworn a sacred oath to preserve
and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic --
who have in fact become domestic enemies.

It
is illegal for the United States to spy on its citizens ... kinda. The
laws have been circumvented by a mutual pact among five nations. Under
the terms of UKUSA agreement, Britain spies on Americans and America spies
on British citizens, and then the two conspirators trade data. A classic
technical finesse. It is legal, but the intent to evade the spirit of the
law is inescapable. This system is called Echelon, and has been kicking
around in some form longer than I have.

The
London Telegraph reported in December of 1997 that the Civil liberties
Committee of the European Parliament had officially confirmed the existence
and purpose of Echelon. "A global electronic spy network that can eavesdrop
on every telephone, e-mail and telex communication around the world will
be officially acknowledged for the first time in a European Commission
report. ..." The report noted, "Within Europe all e-mail, telephone and
fax communications are routinely intercepted by the United States National
Security Agency, transferring all target information from the European
mainland via the strategic hub of London, then by satellite to Fort Meade
in Maryland via the crucial hub at Menwith Hill, in the North York moors
in the UK.

"The
ECHELON system forms part of the UKUSA system but unlike many of the electronic
spy systems developed during the Cold War, ECHELON is designed primarily
for non-military targets: governments, organizations and businesses in
virtually every country."

Technology's
ability to collect and analyze data has made privacy a quaint, albeit interesting,
dinosaur.

Long
ago and far away, Adolf Hitler was talking to Hermann Rauschning and said,
"The people about us are unaware of what is really happening to them: They
gaze fascinated at one or two familiar superficialities, such as possession
and income and rank and other outworn conceptions. As long as these are
kept intact, they are quite satisfied. But in the meantime they have entered
a new relation: a powerful social force has caught them up. They themselves
are changed. What are ownership and income to that? Why need we trouble
to socialize banks and factories? We socialize human beings."